<i>ESR1 </i>mutational landscape and impact of co-existing resistance variants on clinical outcomes in patients with metastatic breast cancer.
Authors: Arielle J Medford, Ignaty Leshchiner, Justin Cha, Lesli Ann Kiedrowski, Andrzej Niemierko, Jennifer C. Keenan, Seth Andrew Wander, Laura Spring, Neelima Vidula, Charles Sichao Dai, Steven J. Isakoff, Lorenzo Gerratana, Ami N. Shah, Andrew A. Davis, Massimo Cristofanilli, Beverly Moy, Leif W. Ellisen, Gad Getz, Aditya Bardia
Journal: Journal of Clinical Oncology (2023)

1074 Background: Mutations in estrogen receptor 1 ( ESR1) confer resistance to aromatase inhibitors but may retain sensitivity to selective estrogen receptor degraders (SERD). Recently, elacestrant, an oral SERD, was approved for patients with HR+/HER2- ESR1 mut metastatic breast cancer (MBC). In this study, we evaluated the genomic landscape of ESR1 alterations from a genomic database and also evaluated the impact of resistance-associated alterations on clinical outcomes. Methods: A large de-identified database of mutations detected in plasma cell-free DNA (cfDNA) from patients with HR+/HER2- MBC was assessed for ESR1 mutations and resistance-associated co-alterations. We used the Guardant 360 assay, a 70- to 74-gene targeted next generation sequencing panel and applied a breast cancer subtype classifier based on detected mutations (Bardia A, SABCS 2020). In addition, clinical outcomes were evaluated from a clinically annotated institutional dataset, linking genomic alterations with progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS) to single-agent SERD therapy for patients with MBC. Results: Among 11,456 patients with MBC and detectable cfDNA, 4,694 were classified as likely HR+/HER2-, of which 2,708 (58%) had ESR1 missense mutations, the majority of which occurred in the ligand binding domain (n = 2,690, 99%). Among the latter, alterations included 204 unique mutations, of which 55 were variants of uncertain significance (VUS). Multiple ESR1 mutations were detected in 979 (36%) patients. Among 567 patients classified as HR+/HER2- that underwent serial sampling, 136 (24%) had detectable ESR1 missense mutations that were previously undetectable. Within the ESR1 mut population, 1,990 (74%) had co-existing non-synonymous, non-VUS alterations at genes associated with SERD resistance: PIK3CA (n = 1,330; 49%), ARID1A (n = 314; 12%), PTEN (n = 201; 7%), ERBB2 (n = 180; 7%), AKT1 (n = 139; 5%), and NF1 (n = 103; 4%); top amplifications were FGFR1 (n = 522; 19%), EGFR (n = 277; 10%), and MYC (n = 177; 7%). Among a clinically annotated HR+/HER2- subgroup (n = 350), 51 patients received SERD monotherapy, either fulvestrant (n = 9) or oral SERD on clinical trial (n = 42); among 28 patients with cfDNA variants associated with SERD resistance, median PFS and OS were lower compared to the 23 patients without resistance mutations (PFS: 2.4 vs 11.3 mo; HR = 0.44; 95% CI, 0.23-0.81; p = 0.008; and OS: 21.1 vs 31.4 mo; HR 0.47; 95% CI, 0.22-0.98; p = 0.045). Conclusions: ESR1 mutations that qualify patients to receive approved SERD therapy are detectable by plasma-based genotyping and can associate with various genomic co-alterations, including variants that may impact clinical outcomes. Further research is needed to confirm the impact of co-alterations in additional datasets and evaluate the role of SERD-based combination therapy to further improve clinical outcomes of patients with MBC.